Restoration and Descent
by Fluehatraya
Summary: The worlds of FMA and Slayers are the same. Zelas Metallium has a plot that threatens to make one of Lina's companions lose who he is, and Edward Elric shines new light upon both magic and alchemy. Slayers anime and FMA manga.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Slayers or Full Metal Alchemist.**

It was dark, the only light being that of the moonlight rippling across the black waves and the eerie orange glow of the lanterns. The lanterns swayed with the ship's undulating motion as it climbed and descended from the crests of waves. As they did so, the shadows that had been so deep that they seemed possessing of substance became mere ghosts that moved in a jerky, flickering imitation of dancing. It was as if, now that the sun was down, that demons came out to play in a realm of illusion barred from mankind.

Despite the time, Lina could not sleep. There was some sort of electric, animal tension to her body that seemed to sharpen every single nerve in her body. This was reflected in the wary rise of her shoulders and the drumming of her svelte fingers, curled into claws, upon the ship railing. Lina herself was not aware of her unusual alertness despite the fact that she did not feel tired when her diurnal senses informed her that she was supposed to be sleeping, and instead stared out across the empty ocean. The sighing of moon-kissed waves and the ship's creaking took Lina into a gentle caress, and she lost sense of everything but the sounds. They had been common throughout the whole voyage, but it was only now that she truly heard them.

A nearby lantern cast a pair of split sapphires into light with a particularly long swing. Something moved behind the intense blue; something that lacked the vitality of life belonging to both animal and man, but instead called for an irrational desire for blood and death. Lina did not notice however, for she was lost to the melody of the quiet night, and the one that possessed the eyes of azurite moved with a silence unknown to man. The shove that came to topple Lina down to the frigid inkiness of the waters below was an utter surprise. It seemed an eternity before she hit the water, and then another before she resurfaced. But by then the ship had moved on, taking with it all light but the moon's.

~Section Divider~

The sound of softly lapping waves and a gentle breeze tinged with salt heralded a bright new morning to Xing's eastern coast. The picturesque scene ruined only by the flotsam and jetsam littered about, along with broken boughs and the scattered remnants of marine life. Not even the pleasant smells of ocean salt and wet sand could mask the odiferous stench of dead and rotting crabs, fish, gulls, and more.

This might be surprising to the uninformed, but the coastline was actually in its best shape since a little over a year ago despite a recent storm, when mysterious explosions occurred out at sea and unleashed tsunamis over the world. To this day once thriving cities are completely gone or greatly reduced, and the cause of the explosions continues to elude all researchers that have set out on ships. There was not even the slightest trace to help point out the cause.

However, the destruction had brought joy to the lives of those who had lost everything. Ishbalans had left refugee camps in eastern Amestris and western Xing to flock to the coast in droves, where the illegal immigrants could find plenty of work in restoring the ravaged towns and beaches to their original states.

The dark-skinned foreigners were now descending a grassy knoll to the beach, wearing thick-soled boots, durable gloves, and facemasks to make the work more tolerable. Despite the safety precautions though, the Ishbalans still showed joy, as children teased and jostled one another, traipsing through the long grass. The adults watched with rust colored eyes as they observed the merriment of the children, while making sure they didn't trip over any debris hidden among the grasses and shrubs.

Eventually the horseplay ended as they reached the part of the beach where most of the wreckage was strewn about. Each worker taking a hardy sack, they started patrolling the beach, piling materials that cluttered the area by the armfuls into them. It was not long before a child, nearing the water, spotted a large and garishly colored mass.

Thinking it might be something of value, the child ran over to it. His peers had noticed his excitement, and had tagged along. Now the children crowded around the foreign object, one of them poking it with a stick. The object was mostly wet cloth and metal, clinging tight to whatever was beneath it. It rose and fell ever so slightly at frequent intervals, and a shallow, windy sound shuddered forth from it occasionally. It was partially submerged in the water, and the waves looked as if they were attempting to drag it back completely into the ocean.

The strange mass was a person.

"Hey mom, come over here!" One of the kids shouted over to a woman standing a way's off, his voice muffled a bit by the facemask that covered the lower part of his face.

The mother of the child who had shouted, who had a very maternal look and feel to her set in her wrinkles and hair up in a bun, hobbled over. Her youth had long since passed, and once simple acts like running and picking her way around rocks, broken-off vegetation, and more were no longer easily done.

"What is it?" She asked, as the children started parting to let her get close to the waterlogged person.

"A girl." One of the children piped up.

The woman's hands flew to her mouth, which formed an 'o' behind her mask. What could be seen of her face had creased with anxiety. Worried, she brushed past the children and came to stoop down next to the wet and colorful object. Sure enough, it was a young appearing girl. The faint breathing sounds gave her away as alive, but she did not look good at all.

"Call some of the men for help." She instructed a few of the children while gesturing for others to stand back, and the ordered children ran, stumbling a bit, to do as the mother had said without further prompting.

Help was quick to come, and after checking the girl over for any injuries she may possess (a difficult task, considering the sheer amount of clothing she wore, soaked and clinging tight to her as a result), determined that although she appeared battered and worse for the wear, was in a good enough condition that she could be moved.

The mother accompanied the men back to the slums of the nearby city where the immigrant Ishbalan community had made their home, while the other Ishbalans got back to work after having been distracted by the unsuspected find.

~Section Divider~

The mother sat next to the bed alongside a priest, keeping careful watch over the girl. She had been cleaned and healed up to the best of her and the priest's abilities. The girl's clothing was practically ruined after their treatment in the ocean, but had been washed and folded up anyways. The girl herself was surprisingly well off considering whatever ordeal she must have gone through; it was likely she had not been stranded at sea for too long. Even so, the harsh ocean had left its mark on the petite body, in the form of ugly bruises mottling her to the point that the original skin color was the minority.

A shame that such a young thing had to go through such rugged conditions. A young, pretty thing. The mother wondered over the ethnicity of the girl; never before had she seen such peculiar clothing or vivid hair. She would have not thought it even possible for someone to have hair like hers, the intensity of a sunset, if the girl had not appeared before her. While she looked closest to Amestrian, what with her fair skin and softer facial features, Amestrians could rarely be found this far east, and most had never even seen the ocean in person before. Of course, she definitely wasn't Xingese or Ishbalan.

The woman inhaled sharply as she saw the girl stir and her eyelids flutter, and her watch intensified. The girl was waking, and the woman's curiosity and need to know if she was alright flared up within her.

Neither the priest nor the woman had noticed the blink of amethyst that had winked into existence for the slightest moment behind them.


End file.
